Continuous rod cigarette-making machines



April 5, 1966 M. A. PYM

CONTINUOUS ROD CIGARETTE-MAKING MACHINES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 25,1963 ATTORA/Efi April 5, 1966 M. A. PYM

CONTINUOUS ROD CIGARETTE-MAKING MACHINES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 25,1963 INVENTOR fiM A 0 A TTORNEE Y m wwmm' United States Patent Ofi icePatented Apr. 5, 1966 ly sealed. rod should not be allowed to enter thecut-off mechanism,

3,244,183 CGNTINUOUS ROD CIGARETTE-MAKING MACHINES Michael Aren Pym,Deptford, London, England, assignor to The Moiins Organisation Limited,London, England, aBritish company Filed June'25, 1963, Ser. No. 290,444Claims priority, application Great Britain, July 13, 1962,

2 Claims. (Cl. 131-65) This invention concerns improvements in 'orrelating to continuous rod cigarette-making machines.

In a continuous rod cigarette-making machine, a moving cigarette rod isformed by wrapping a moving cigarette-paper web about a tobacco fillerin rod-forming mechanism, the continuous rod then passing tocut-oifmechanism in which it is severed into individual cigarette lengths. Therod forming mechanism usually includes a paster, which applies adhesiveto one edge of the paper web, the said edge then being folded to overlapthe other edge of the Web and to adhere thereto, and a heater to sealthe overlapped adhering edges.

When the machine is started, .the rod first issuing from the rod-formingmechanism is normally not suitable for the production of satisfactorycigarettes. For example, it may contain insufiicient tobacco, or it maynot be correct- It is therefore desirable that such unsuitable and that,after the machine has been running for some time and the rod issuingfrom the rod-forming mechanism is of suitable quality, the rod should bebroken so as to provide a free end to the suitable rod which can pass tothe cut-elf mechanism.

It is the usual practice to guide the rod clear of the cut-offmechanism, either by hand or by a guide element, until the operatorconsiders that it is of suitable quality for making cigarettes. Thebreaking of the rod is sometimes eifected manually, and sometimesmechanically.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved devicewhereby both the guiding of the rod clear of the cut-off mechanism, andthe breaking of the rod to enable a free end to enter the cut-offmechanism, is effected by a single movable member.

More specifically the said movable member when in one position acts tobend the rod sufficiently to divert it from the cut-oif mechanism, andwhen moved to a second position, bends the rod sufficiently to break it.As is customary in continuous rod cigarette-making machines, the rod iscarried towards the cut-off mechanism by a tape which, at a positionnear the cut-off mechanism, moves downwardly about a wheel. In thedevice according to the invention, the above-mentioned movable member,when moved to the said second position, presses the rod against thewheel so as to bend it sufficiently to cause it to break.

In a preferred construction according to the invention, the movement ofthe member from the first to the second position is initiated bymovement of the usual rodsealing device from an inoperative to anoperative position, after a suitable time delay to ensure that the rodis properly sealed before being broken.

A device in accordance with the present invention will now be describedby way of exampie with reference to the accompanying drawing in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of a device constructed in accordance withthe invention, showing a cigarette rod being bent so as to divert itfrom a straight course, and

FIGURE 2 is a similar view but showing the rod being bent sufficientlyto break it.

FIGURE 3 is a diagram showing actuating means and circuit elements usedwith the machine of FIGURES' 1 and 2.

Referring to the drawing, cigarette rod C issuing from rod-formingmechanism is conveyed lengthwise in the direction of the arrows on amoving conveyor band 1, which passes about a wheel 2. When the machineis in normal operation, the rod C travels in a substantially straightpath (shown in broken line in FIGURE 2) past the wheel 2 and across agap to a rod receiving, funnelshaped member 3, which, in theconstruction shown, forms the entry to a rod-measuring device 4.Alternatively, the member 3 forms the entry to the cut-off mechanism.

Referring to FIGURE 1, a guide element comprising a part 5, having aguide surface 6, and a freely rotatable roller 7 mounted on its upperend, is positioned to intercept the rod C passing over the wheel 2 anddivert the rod from its straight path so that it does not enter themember 3. The guide element is carried by an arm 8 which is mounted on ashaft 9 such that rotation of the shaft will cause rotation of the arm.Connected to the shaft 9 is a gear segment 10, which intermeshes with afurther gear segment 11, rotatable about a shaft 12. Thus, by rotatingthe segment 11 a desired amount clockwise as vi-ewed in FIGURE 1, thesegment 10 and the shaft 9 are rotated anticlockwise, thereby swingingthe arm 8 to move the guide element to its position shown in full inFIGURE 2.

The rod forming mechanism includes a paster (not shown) which appliesadhesive to one edge of the cigarette paper web, the said edge thenbeing folded to overlap and adhere to the other edge of the paper web,and a heater having a heating bar 13 (part of which is shown in thedrawing), which heats the overlapped, adhering paper edges to seal therod. The heater is movable from a position away from the rod, in whichit rests when the machine is not operating, to a position adjacent therod (the position shown in FIGURES 1 and 2), in which it is held duringnormal operation. The arrangement for movement of the heater is fullydescribed in U.S. Patent No. 3,194,244 to Powell, issued July 13, 1965.

In conjunction with the gear segment 11 there is provided a solenoid 14,which, when energised, causes the segment 11 to rotate the said desiredamount clockwise (as viewed in the drawing) from its position shown inFIGURE 1. Movement of the heater serves to operate an electrical switchassociated with a time delay device in a manner extensively described inU.S. Patent No. 3,194,244. The electrical circuitry involved is showndiagrammatically in FIGURE 3, wherein switch 20 is closed upon theheater being lowered, thus energizing time delay switch 21. Suchmovement of the heater 13 is indicated by the double arrow shown in FIG.3. At the end of the predetermined time delay period, the time delayswitch operates contact bar 22, closing the electrical circuit andenergizing solenoid 14.

The operation of the mechanism is as follows:

When the cigarette-making machine is started, the heater is at itsposition away from the rod, and the guide element is in its positionshown in FIGURE 1. The unsealed rod which first issues from the rodforming mechanism is therefore diverted from its intended path to themember 3 by the part 5 of the guide element. The heater is then broughtdown so that the bar 13 bears on the adhering paper edges and heats themto seal the rod. Tile lowering of the heater closes switch 20 energizingswitch 21, which after a short period of time has elapsed closes contactbar 22 energizing solenoid 14. During the time delay period the partsremain in the position shown in FIGURE 1 and the unsuitable rod isdiverted from its path to the member 3 by the guide element. After thepredetermined time delay period, which is selected to allow the rod tobecome properly sealed and solenoid 14 is energised, the gear segment 11moves, which operates to swing the arm 8 anticlockwise as viewed inFIGURE 1, so that the guide element is swung downwardly. During thisdownward movement the roller 7 engages the rod C and presses it againstthe band 1 passing about the wheel 2. At this stage in the downwardmovement of the guide element the roller 7 occupies the position atwhich it is shown in FIGURE 2 broken away from the rest of the guideelement. When the roller reaches that position, the rod is bentsufficiently to cause it to break at the position indicated by thereference B, FIGURE 2. The leading end of the rod following the break isthen free to travel in a straight path across the gap towards the member3, and the guide element, continuing its downward movement, reaches itslowermost position in which it is shown in full in FIG- URE 2. By thattime the leading end of the newly broken rod, travelling in a straightpath, has reached the position shown in FIGURE 2, the newly brokenleading end face of the rod being indicated by the reference B At thesame time the portion broken away from the rod is being guided by theroller 7 downwardly to fall away, the newly broken rear end face of thisportion being indicated by the reference B What I claim as my inventionand desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a continuous rod cigarette-making machine having a conveyor tapewhich conveys the cigarette rod towards a rod-receiving member andhaving a wheel about which the said tape passes, said wheel rotatingabout a fixed axis and being spaced from the said rod-receiving memberto form a gap between them across which the rod can travel in asubstantially straight path, a guide element, means whereby the guideelement is arranged to be positioned at a first position within said gapand across said path to divert the rod away from said rodreceivingmember and is movable in a plane perpendicular to said fixed axis to asecond position aside said gap and on that side of said path on whichthe wheel lies, and means to move the said guide element at a desiredtime to said second position at which it bends the rod about said wheelsuificiently to cause the rod to break, thereby enabling the rod behindthe point of breakage to pass across the gap and enter the saidrod-receiving member.

2. In a continuous rod cigarette-making machine having the featuresclaimed in claim 1, and having a movable heater arranged to be moved toand away from a sealing position in contact with the cigarette rod toseal the rod, operating means, including a device actuated responsivelyto and a predetermined time after movement of said heater to saidsealing position, to operate the said means to move the said guideelement to the said second position at which it causes the rod to break.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Molins 1312l: X

SAMUEL KOREN, Primary Examiners JOSEPH S. REICH, Examiner.

1. IN A CONTINUOUS ROD CIGARETTE-MAKING MACHINE HAVING A CONVEYOR TAPEWHICH CONVEYS THE CIGARETTE ROD TO WARDS A ROD-RECEIVING MEMBER ANDHAVING A WHEEL ABOUT WHICH THE SAID TAPE PASSES, SAID WHEEL ROTATINGABOUT A FIXED AXIS AND BEING SPACED FROM THE SAID ROD-RECEIVING MEMBERTO FORM A GAP BETWEEN THEM ACROSS WHICH THE ROD CAN TRAVEL IN ASUBSTANTIALLY STRAIGHT PATH, A GUIDE ELEMENT, MEANS WHEREBY THE GUIDEELEMENT IS ARRANGED TO BE POSITIONED AT A FIRST POSITION WITHIN SAID GAPAND ACROSS SAID PATH TO DIVERT THE ROD AWAY FROM SAID RODRECEIVINGMEMBER AND IS MOVABLE IN A PLANE PERPENDICULAR TO SAID FIXED AXIS TO ASECOND POSITION ASIDE SAID GAP AND ON THAT SIDE OF SAID PATH ON WHICHTHE WHEEL LIES, AND MEANS TO MOVE THE SAID GUIDE ELEMENT AT A DESIREDTIME TO SAID SECOND POSITION AT WHICH IT BENDS THE ROD ABOUT SAID WHEELSUFFICIENTLY TO CAUSE THE ROD TO BREAK, THEREBY ENABLING THE ROD BEHINDTHE POINT OF BREAKAGE TO PASS ACROSS THE GAP AND ENTER THE SAIDROD-RECEIVING MEMBER.